January 31, 2012

This is one of my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavors. It isn't the best vanilla bean ice cream I've ever had. Personally, I could probably do without the vanilla bean ice cream. But that salted caramel swirl is to-die-for. I wish there was more of it throughout the ice cream! Or if the ice cream were entirely salted caramel flavor instead of vanilla bean, that would be THE best. Or at least this Dulce Delish ice cream base rather than vanilla bean.

I should get into the ice cream-making business.

Oh and my favorite part about this ice cream is the chocolate-covered potato chip clusters. Because I'm all about the sweet and salty mix. I love salted caramel for one, and the addition of these salty potato chip clusters really sets it over the top and satiates my salty-sweet craving.

Now I just need to contact Ben & Jerry and either a.) plant the seed in their heads about making the whole ice cream a salted caramel flavor or their Dulce Delish flavor OR b.) convince them I need a job in the creative flavor-making committee.

Either way, eat this if you love ice cream and saltiness and caramel and potato chips. Because really, is there a good excuse to ever pass up those things? Didn't think so.

January 23, 2012

Why hello there, my pretties! I've been slacking a bit on my recipe posts. Seems like all I ever blog about lately are my menu plans, which don't fully come to fruition lol. But I've missed you all! I'm having some blogging withdrawals.

Not a very eventful weekend. Went to class Saturday morning, only after falling down the icy front steps and busting my butt, then having to scrape like an inch of ice off my car windows. I'm still sore today from falling. PJ and I spent Saturday together going to Target, and later had a little date night dinner at Mitchell's Fish Market. Yummy in my tummy! Can I eat there every weekend? Sunday we went grocery shopping, watched football, I did some homework while PJ cleaned the house, and finished up a great weekend together. Love spending time with that guy.

Here's to an awesome week! I just got my student loan refund check, so time to buy that lens I've been coveting :) That will seriously make my whole week. Waiting on swagbucks to award me my Amazon gift card though to put towards the purchase. So excited!

What did everybody do for the weekend? What did you think about the results of the football games? And what's on the schedule for this upcoming week?

January 20, 2012

I used to never be a fan of them. Then I got older and I became less of a picky child and more of an openminded adult, and I discovered that my taste buds have changed. I thank that magical lemon bar from BonBonerie that I tried a little while back. Oh, with its shortbread-like crust and its tart, creamy filling... I found a piece of heaven I had been missing for so long. Now I'm all about the lemon desserts. Always open to try one.

Now I was on a mission to change PJ's mind. He said he'd worn himself out on lemon desserts and thought he didn't like them anymore. Just like he thought he didn't like pumpkin until he tried this. I've got to let him try that lemon bar from BonBonerie. But until then, I wanted to make himus {ok me!} this pie...

You see, this months Improv Cooking Challenge theme was lemons and sour cream. I searched high and low in my 'must-try recipes' word document (yes, I have a document saved with millions of recipes listed that I want to try), searched on pinterest, and finally discovered the perfect pick: this Lemon Sour Cream Tart. Oh snap, I was all over that.

I used a 9-inch graham cracker crust rather than an ordinary pie crust because I'll snatch up any opportunity to use a graham cracker crust. I chose to bake mine for a little bit according to the package directions, but you don't have to bake it at all if you don't want. Completely up to you.

I just realized I forgot to take a photo with the whipped topping. Oopsies. Oh well, look at Mary's... her slice is beautiful especially with that dollop of whipped topping! And the slice (ok, many slices) I had were so delicious even without it.

Loved this pie, and PJ even liked it when he had a slice, especially with that graham cracker crust. See, that's some good stuff. Can't wait to make some more lemony treats!

Be sure to check out other lemon and sour cream goodies from the Improv Cooking Challenge in the blog hop below:

January 9, 2012

I made two of the four recipes I planned for last week's menu. Not the best start to a new year of menu planning, but decent enough. We made The Great White Chili and the Creamy Mushroom and Potato Soup, but didn't make the other two so I'll move them over to this week. Recycle them recipes. I have all of the ingredients already for the Chicken Pot Pie topped with Mashed Potatoes so we'll have that tonight, maybe. Don't hold it against me if not, because PJ will have to cook the whole meal while I'm at school! Yes, my first class is this evening! So if he feels up to it, he'll make this chicken pot pie (and I'll love him dearly for cooking), or I'll just pick up something for us on my way home.We'll see how that goes.

I'm trying not to be too intimidated about starting school today... I'm a mix of excited and nervous. I'm trying to tell myself that it's going to be more exciting than anything else. Plus, it's only the first day so at least we'll start out today with introductions and going over the syllabus and such.

It's gonna be a long day... Wish me luck :)

(Oh, and can I just say that I'm shocked and thrilled that the Steelers lost their first playoff game! My Bengals lost to Houston, unfortunately, but having the Steelers lose kind of makes up for it. Sorry Pittsburgh fans, you understand the rivalry!)

Most of these delights came from the last half of the year.... guess I got more into my baking and dessert groove. And I hope to keep at it.

Thanks for checking out my "Best of 2011" series. It's been so fun re-capping all of the tasty recipes I've made on this blog this past year. I'm so excited for the upcoming year and all of the possibilities ahead.

I'm back participating in SnoWhite's Countdown to 2012 (though it's already 2012 now). This time we're focusing on the best MAIN DISHES of 2011, and boy were there some good ones. Looking bad though, I didn't make as many main dishes this year as I'd want. Maybe because the second half of the year I started to bake a lot more desserts and treats. Not sure, but hopefully in 2012 there will be plenty of main dish recipes, as well as an array of desserts, sides, sauces etc.

We've got a nice mix of mains here... Mexican, Chinese, pork, beef, fish, and pasta. I need to make all of these again, asap! Maybe I'll have them show up on some menu plans here soon. Oh, and I know my Zuppa Toscana made my bestSOUPSof 2011... but seriously people, it is definitely one of my favorite main dishes of the year.

January 3, 2012

That's how I feel sometimes, not gonna lie. Why make resolutions that I'm probably not gonna stick to? Plus, I like me. I think I'm pretty cool. Do I really need to change?

The answer is YES! We all can always use a little bit of change. Of course I could afford to lose some pounds and inches, drink more water, work out more, yada yada yada. And I will attempt those things, at my own pace, you see.

But I've decided to skip the obvious resolutions that resurface every year and focus on ones that I could actually achieve and stick with throughout the year.

So here's my 2012 Resolution List, in no particular order:

Purchase at least 2 major house items

Plan a vacation

Host at least one giveaway on my blog

Go to Findlay Market for the 1st time ever

Read at least 5 books

Learn how to use my new dslr camera

Volunteer

#1 was also on my resolution list last year... and we did purchase a new couch and tv. Our house, however, is always in need of fixing up, so I decided to add it to my resolution list again this year... and this time I'm going for 2 major items! Hey, last year we did it so I know we can again this year.

Last year we had planned to go to Gatlinburg or somewhere in South Carolina, but money just wasn't right so we decided against it. This year I must have my vacation!

I really have a lot of goals for my blog, and hosting another giveaway is one of many. I had fun hosting my first (and only) giveaway last summer and hope to come up with some great giveaway ideas for my readers.

Last year I was supposed to go to Findlay Market. Dunno what happened there...

This year, this year.

In 2011 I also urged myself to read more. Again, dunno what happened there. I literally didn't pick up my first book until I think maybe August of that year, and then slowly read that one, and finally finished my 2nd book of 2011 at the very end of the year. That's no good! I want to read at least 5 books this year! I see some of my blogger friends setting a goal of 52 books in 52 weeks and I'm in awe. If I can read 1/10th of that, I'll be good :)

Obviously, I'm gonna have to seriously read up on how to use my new dslr camera. That means learning new terms like ISO and shutter speed and aperture. It also means busting out the handy dandy manual and playing around with the cam a little bit until I get some great shots. I want to master this camera, mostly for my food photos, but also for my personal family photos. I've always had a thing for photography...

Oh, and my last resolution is to do some kind of volunteer work this year. Hopefully being in the counseling program at Xavier will lead to volunteer opportunities. I want to get my hands wet and dive into the counseling world, and this especially means doing volunteer work to better assess my skills and to see which path I want to follow in my career.

Man I can't wait to cross some of these off my list. Have I told you guys before that I'm a list kinda gurl? Well I am... it feels so good to cross stuff off those lists. Can't. wait.

I've got a year to get er done. Which, as we all can relate, will probably fly by. Guess I better get started soon.

It's a new year folks, and I'm trying to start it out right. That means menu planning! I usually like to do my menu planning posts on Monday (or Sunday if I'm really good) but today's is falling on a Tuesday, which gives me one less meal to plan. Woot woot!

I've thoroughly enjoyed my breaks and they didn't last long enough. I'm officially back to work this week with no holidays in the near future. You too? How will we survive?! Not sure, but we will.

Oh, and next Monday I go back to school. WHAT?! Seriously, next Monday?! I remember when going back to grad school was merely a thought that crossed my mind. Then it became more real as I applied, took my MAT, endured interviews with the staff, and dealt with financial aid. And now the time is just about here to actually start the program. I almost can't believe it. It always seemed like so much work in my mind to take the steps to go back to school, and now I've taken the steps. I'm pretty proud about that, I must say. I'll be even more proud when I finish the program, or at least make it through my first class, do well on an exam, and finish some pages-long essays that I'm sure will be in store for me. Wish me luck?

This Thursday I'll be doing the orientation thing... picking up my All-card, purchasing textbooks for my classes, and getting a tour of the campus since it's changed immensely since I've attended 4 years ago. I'm nervous!

It's a new year, so hopefully that means I actually stick to the menu plan for once and make all of these delicious recipes. I still need to purchase a lens for my new camera... I hoped to have it by now for my food blog photos, but it just didn't happen quite as I anticipated. Call me uppity, but I just can't bring myself to take photos with my old point and shoot knowing that I've got a dslr just waiting to be used. Oh well, guess I shouldn't forget what I started with and how far I've come!

It's 2012!! I'm gonna need time to slow down a little bit. Don't you wish we could control it? Just press rewind and go back to the beginning of 2011 (or when I was 16 for that matter!). Yet it doesn't go that way, so instead I'll just have to try to make 2012 even better than 2011. You with me?!

I know it's already a couple days into the new year, but I wanted to participate in SnoWhite's Countdown to 2012 series. What a great way to round out a year of delicious food. So technically we're no longer counting down to 2012, but it's all good. I know you still wanna see all of the SOUPS I've shared with you in 2011! (though #4 and #3 weren't exactly met with much praise from the man).